Growing Up

Born to John L. Loeb, Sr. and Frances Lehman Loeb on May 2, 1930, John, Jr. recalls a happy childhood shared with his siblings at Ridgeleigh Estate in Purchase, NY. The Loebs lived in one of two homes on the estate. John’s Lehman grandparents, Arthur and Adele, lived in the other. He also spent idyllic times with his many cousins at the Lehman lakeside retreat at Upper Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks, across the water from his Lewisohn grandparents’ compound. John attended the Collegiate School for Boys, the Harvey School in Hawthorne, NY and the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT. His experience of anti-Semitism at Hotchkiss helped form his lifelong commitment to fighting religious bigotry. In his own words, after Hotchkiss, attending college at Harvard was “heaven.”

Siblings

John loved books. His mother read to him and taught him to read at a young age.

Frances Lehman Loeb and children John, Ann, Arthur, and Judy

Loeb Siblings

Arthur, John, and Ann in the Spring of 1937, ready to go someplace special

Shirley Temple and John at a pool party that John's great-uncle Governor Hebert Lehman threw in Shirley's honor (1938)

A boat ride in "Peter," the Loeb family Chris-Craft, was one of the summer joys for John and his siblings, Ann and Arthur

Arthur, Judy, Ann, Mother, and John dressed for a western-style party

Education

John is a cum laude graduate of The Harvey School in Katonah, New York (1939-1944) and The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut (1944-1948). John went on to become a 1952 B.A. cum laude graduate of Harvard College and received his M.B.A. in 1954 from Harvard Business School.

Early Schooling

For his primary education, John attended the Collegiate School for Boys. The Harvey School in Katonah, NY, provided his middle school education.

John at the Collegiate School for Boys (1936). He is in the last boy in the back row.

Baseball team at the Harvey School. John is in the top row, third from the left.

John graduated from the Harvey School in 1944 where he was chosen as Most Likely to Succeed

High School

For his high school years, John attended the Hotchkiss School in Salisbury, CT. While there, he encountered anti-Semitism and bullying, an experience that shaped his adult commitment to fighting religious bigotry in all its forms. As a result, John founded the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom, funded the Loeb Visitors Center at the Touro Synagogue National Historic Site, and the Loeb Institute for Religious Freedom at The George Washington University.

John and his friend, Eddie, who is teaching him how to box. (1945)

John (center) as chairman of the Hotchkiss Record editorial board

Sculpture that John created of Moses breaking the first tablets of the Ten Commandments.

Sculpture created by John of the Angel saving Abraham's beloved son, Isaac, from sacrifice

John in a Hotchkiss school play

Book about Hotchkiss by Ernest Kolowrat that included John's anti-Semitic experience there

College and Graduate School at Harvard

The Loeb family has played a significant role in the modern history of Harvard University. In 1995, John’s parents donated $70.5 million to the school, the largest gift Harvard had ever received from a living donor. The Frances L. Loeb Library, the Loeb Drama Center, and numerous Loeb fellowships all carry John L. Loeb, Sr.’s name.

John, Jr. distinguished himself academically while an undergrad at Harvard, while serving as business manager of the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine. After graduating from Harvard College, John attended Harvard Business School (HBS) from 1952 to 1954. As one of the youngest members of his class and with no previous business experience, John struggled at first but finished with a strong record. In the summer between his first and second years, John traveled to Yugoslavia to conduct research on the social and economic conditions under Tito’s communist regime. His international experience would later serve him well and foretold his devotion to traveling the world. John also joined ROTC, which allowed him to enter the Air Force as a second Lieutenant in 1954 upon graduation from HBS.

Home of the "Harvard Lampoon"

John as a student at Harvard Business School

John and author George Plimpton who brought down the house with his roast of John at the Lehman College award dinner

Loeb House at Harvard, named for John's father

Lehman Hall at Harvard, given by John's grandfather, Arthur Lehman, class of 1896